Antonio Carlos Jobim was born Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim, January 25, 1927 in the Tijuca neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. He was also called Tom Jobim.
Jobim was a Brazilian composer, arranger, singer, pianist and perhaps the greatest legend of bossa nova. Jobim’s compositions, many performed by Joao Gilberto, gave birth to the genre in the early 1960s.
Antonio Carlos Jobim’s roots were planted firmly in the works of Pixinguinha, a legendary musician and composer who, in the 1930s, began the development of modern Brazilian music. He was also influenced by the music of French composer Claude Debussy and by jazz.
Jobim found prominence when he teamed up with writer and poet Vinicius de Moraes in providing part of the music for the play Orfeu de Carnaval (1956), that later gained wide recognition in the film Black Orpheus. The lyrics for his most popular songs were written by de Moraes.
One of his best known works was the classic Elis & Tom album. After having commemorated 10 years with Jorge Ben and Jair Rodrigues as part of the cast of artists in 1973, the director of Philips Brazil, Andre Midani, verified that the following year Elis Regina would be celebrating 10 years with the label. Having had massive success with such songs as ‘Casa no Campo’ and ‘Aguas de Marco’ over the previous years, Midani asked Elis if there was anything she really wanted. ‘Record an album of music by Tom Jobim… with Tom Jobim’.
The inspiration for the project was an LP of songs by Tom and Vinicius de Moraes, released in 1959 on the Festa label ‘ ‘Por Toda a Minha Vida’, performed by Lenita Bruno (1926-1987), which featured arrangements by her husband Leo Peracchi (1911-1993), ex-professor of Tom. The arranger Cesar Camargo Mariano (married to Elis at the time) and Elis herself were both big fans of this record.
In January of 1974, Antonio Carlos Jobim received a telephone call from Andre Midani, president of Phonogram (Phillips), proposing the recording of a record with Elis Regina. Tom accepted the invite.
Philips invited Aloysio de Oliveira (1914-1995) to be producer of the project he was already a friend of all involved. The original budget didn’t allow for sending everybody to the US, where Tom had been living for some years. It would be cheaper to record in Brazil, but for some motive Tom couldn’t travel.
So, on the 20th of February, Elis Regina and her husband Cesar Camargo Mariano went to Los Angeles, accompanied by Aloysio de Oliveira and Joao Marcello (son of Elis and Ronaldo Bescoli), as well as members of Cesar’s band : Helio Delmiro (guitar), Luisao (bass) and Paulinho Braga (drums). They were followed a few days later by Roberto de Oliveira, Elis’ manager and responsible for the idea of the whole project along with the mission of recording a documentary for television.
At the airport in Los Angeles they were received by Tom Jobim, who had a flower for Elis, and invited them to go firstly to his house for a chat, before heading on to the Sunset Marquis Hotel. There was already tension in the air, not least due to the age difference between the couple and Tom (Elis was 29, Tom 47). Arriving at the house, Tom asked Aloysio who’d be doing the arrangements on the recording, and wasn’t pleased when he discovered it would be Cesar Camargo Mariano. Tom tried ringing Claus Ogerman and Dave Grusin but couldn’t get them. Neither was he pleased to hear that some musicians would be arriving from Brazil the next day. ‘//It doesn’t make sense. We already have excellent musicians here!//’
The following day Cesar began working on the arrangements, while Elis brought Joao Marcello to Disneyland. His work was constantly interrupted by Tom, asking if everything was going OK and the interruptions continued until he delivered the final mix to Tom.
The recording sessions were delayed while Cesar worked out the arrangements. Bill Hitchcock had been contracted to direct the string quartet (because of local laws, Cesar couldn’t do so). The first 2 of the 4 days in the studio were slotted for recording Tom ‘s piano and guitar, accompanied by the string quintet and flautist. ‘Elis would rarely do other takes‘, Cesar recalls, who accompanied Aloysio on the rest of the sessions – with the quartet that had accompanied Elis since the beginning of the 1970s, with special participation from Oscar Castro Neves.
The climate between Elis and Tom was also rocky on occasion. Happily, Aloysio was present to smooth out most of the problems. He was the only one who could put up with two strong personalities. Also, Tom wouldn’t initially accept the electric piano programmed by Cesar Mariano. The artistic director of Phonogram, Roberto Menescal, was in Rio but he accompanied by phone the recordings. He phoned almost every day to talk with Aloysio who told him how things were.
But the record itself was a work of tranquility. Tom and Elis sang together on Aguas de Marco, Soneto da Separacao and Chovendo na Roseira. Tom hummed on Corcovado and sang in the background on Inutil Paisagem. He also played piano and flute.
The crowning moment is Aguas de Marco, presented as a spontaneous take but in fact was done various times to get the perfect take. Bonita wasn’t included in the final album because Elis didn’t like her English. The bonus version of Fotografia is the original recording from Los Angeles; the version included on the final album was recorded later in Sao Paulo.
The final result left everyone involved happy. Tom was later quoted as saying: ‘It was excellent because Elis is an incredible singer. The record featured a great repertory accompanied by excellent musicians. And a fantastic pianist, Cesar Camargo Mariano.’
American jazz singers Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra prominently featured Jobim’s songs on their albums Ella Abraca Jobim (1981) and Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967), respectively. Jobim is recognized the world over as one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.
A chat about back catalogs between Joao Marcello Boscoli (president of Trama) and the artistic vice-president of Universal Music Brazil, Max Pierre, led to the idea of mixing the timeless Elis & Tom in stereo and 5.1 surround. During three months, Cesar Camargo Mariano, who co-produced, played piano and did most of the arrangements on the original 1974 recordings (and who was also married to Elis at the time), ensconced himself in the Trama studios alongside sound engineer Luis Paulo Serafim. Cesar first concern was to change nothing of the original recording. He created a map with the positions of the instruments during the recording at the MGM studios in Los Angeles.
The new version of Elis & Tom (special edition) came out in on Trama Records in 2004. The special stereo edition includes bonus tracks and a DVD.
Jobim died December 8, 1994 in New York City. He was buried in the Cemiterio Sao Joao Batista in Rio de Janeiro. The International Airport of Rio de Janeiro is now named in his honor.
Discography
- Herbie Mann & Joao Gilberto With Antonio Carlos Jobim (1965)
- The Composer Of Desafinado, Plays (1963)
- The Wonderful World of Antonio Carlos Jobim (1965)
- Recorded In Rio De Janeiro (1965)
- Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967)
- A Certain Mr. Jobim (1967)
- Wave (1968)
- Tide (1970)
- Stone Flower (1971)
- Jobim (1973)
- Elis & Tom (Polygram, 1974)
- Urubu (1976)
- Terra Brasilis (1980)
- E. Convivados (1985)
- Passarim (1987)
- Echoes Of Rio (1989)
- Rio Revisited (1989)
- Triste-Jazz Collection (1990)
- Compact Jazz (1990)
- The Art Of Antonio Carlos Jobim (1990)
- Personalidade (Best Of Brazil) (1993)
- Minha Historia (1993)
- Verve Jazz Masters 13 (1994)
- Antonio Brasileiro (1995)
- The Man From Ipanema (1995)
- Most Beautiful Songs (1996)
- Composer (1996)
- More Of The Best (1996)
- Antonio Carlos Jobim & Friends (1996)
- Antonio Carlos Jobim & Miucha (1996)
- Some Of The Best (1996)
- Mi Historia (1997)
- Jazz ‘Round Midnight (1998)
- Verve Jazz Masters: The Bossa Nova Story (1998)
- A Arte De Tom Jobim (1998)
- Quiet Now: Nights Of Quiet Stars (1999)
- Most Beautiful Songs Of Antonio Carlos Jobim… (1999)
- Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Finest Hour (2000)
- Bossa Nova (2000)
- Tom Canta Vinicius: Ao Vivo (2001)
- O Mundo De Tom Jobim (2001)
- 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (2005)
- Live At Minas (2006)
- The Unknown Antonio Carlos Jobim (2006)
Sources
The biography contains some material from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, as well as Trama Records.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.